Abstract:
Coronary atherosclerosis is common at vessel bifurcations. A quantitative approach to measuring blood velocity, vorticity and more complex flow features at bifurcations would enhance the understanding of the mechanisms of atheroma development, and potentially predict vessels at highest risk. The aim of this work was to validate 4D phase contrast (PC) magnetic resonance imaging flow measurements using a simplified arterial model of the left main coronary bifurcation against computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling.